The Power of Regentera
The noisy chatterbox May greeted me at the top of her lungs. “Hi, Ishtel! Hi!”
When I held out my hand filled with birdseed, she dove at it greedily.
“Thank you, Ishtel! I love you, Ishtel!”
“She really does know exactly who feeds her, doesn’t she?”
May landed lightly on my shoulder and rubbed her tiny head against me, chattering nonstop about how much she loved me.
Kan, who had been watching from his perch, flew over and settled on a nearby branch. Apparently jealous of our affectionate display, he clacked his beak and sang with fierce enthusiasm. The only word he knew was “coo,” but his passion rivaled May’s.
“Stupid Kan! Stupid Kan!”
May taunted him in a singsong voice. Kan glared at her and flapped his wings threateningly. A frightened May quickly flew back into her cage and slammed the door shut herself.
“Stupid Kan! Stupid Kan!”
Now that she was safe, May’s voice grew even louder as she mocked him. An irritated Kan flew straight to her cage and shook the bars violently with his sharp talons.
“Stop fighting, you two.”
I would soon have to meet with the two Archdukes and the ministers. I had come to the aviary to clear my head before dealing with that headache of a meeting, yet even the birds were at each other’s throats.
I walked over to the long bench in the center of the aviary and lay down. Warm sunlight poured through the enormous silver cage as I gently closed my eyes.
‘I suppose I’ll have no choice but to face Illid at today’s meeting.’
Just thinking about him made my heart race as if it were broken.
Ever since that night I had spent in Illid’s quarters, I had been deliberately avoiding him. I took detours around the paths he frequented, and I had even stopped visiting the imperial library for fear of running into him.
During meals with His Majesty the Emperor, I made every effort not to turn my head in his direction. And if he spoke to me, I would stare elsewhere and babble nonsense.
Once, I stammered so badly that His Majesty seriously asked if I was having a seizure in my mouth.
‘And yet I keep thinking about him… I really must be strange, right?’
Since that night, my lips always felt feverish. Not just my lips—every part of my body his hands had touched burned the same way. It was as if he had given me a terrible fever that I would have to suffer for a long time.
“Huh? What’s this?”
Suddenly, a warm, slightly rough sensation brushed my left cheek. Was I so lost in thought about that night that I was even hallucinating the feeling? I was just thinking it must be serious when my right cheek grew hot as well.
“Meow!”
“Ah, you startled me!”
I sat up quickly, surprised by the pair of amber eyes staring down at me. The black cat, even more startled than I was, darted behind the bench.
“Caretaker!”
At my call, the aviary caretaker came running in a fluster. I pointed at the black cat under the bench.
“What exactly is this cat?”
“Oh no, that cat’s snuck into the aviary again?”
It seemed the caretaker was already familiar with the animal.
“That cat belongs to the maid who serves tea in His Majesty’s chambers.”
“What? Karina’s cat?”
No wonder it looked familiar. Those unpleasant amber eyes confirmed it was the same cat I had seen in her shabby house that day.
“Yes. His Majesty gave permission for it to be raised in the rear garden. But for some reason it keeps coming into the aviary. Being a cat, it slips through even the tiniest gaps.”
Now that the tension had eased, the cat approached me again. It flopped down at my feet, belly exposed, and purred sweetly, begging to be petted.
“Kan isn’t a problem, but please keep an eye on the smaller birds like the canaries. It would be a disaster if this cat caught one.”
After leaving those instructions with the caretaker, I turned toward the exit. The cat watched me with disappointed eyes.
* * *
Today’s meeting was an important one. It would officially divide the Crown Prince duties I had carried out until now between the two Archdukes. Therefore, not only the central nobles but also Illid, Hellion, and all their vassals from the South and North were in attendance.
“Will Ebony Bladin be attending as well?”
I approached Count Silanda, who always arrived ten minutes early, and asked. However, the Count shook his head with a reluctant expression.
“The Countess of Bladin is having a private audience with His Majesty again today.”
I had secretly hoped I might finally learn what kind of person she was. Yet the fact that she met with His Majesty so frequently only made me more uneasy.
Soon the central nobles began arriving one by one. Yulian, attending as proxy for the ailing Marchioness of Lilche. The Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Finance. Illid and Hellion, each leading their southern and northern vassals. And finally, receiving everyone’s greetings, my older brother, Duke Zar Regentera, made his appearance.
“Do well,” I mouthed silently at Zar. My brother winked, telling me not to worry.
“Now then, let us begin the meeting.”
At my declaration, the meeting commenced.
The duties I had performed as the Crown Prince’s proxy for the past three years could be divided into four main categories: management of the Imperial Knights, security of the imperial palace and capital, securing international trade with foreign nations, and finally, auditing the imperial palace’s finances.
His Majesty and I had spent a long time deliberating how to divide these responsibilities between the two Archdukes. After careful consideration, we decided to entrust the Imperial Knights and capital security to Illid, and international trade and financial auditing to Hellion.
Illid excelled at trade and numbers, while Hellion was strong in military command and discipline. It was His Majesty’s intention to assign them tasks they were less familiar with in order to gauge their individual capabilities.
“Going forward, Imperial Knight Commander Yulian Leonhart Lilche will assist Archduke Illid.”
Yulian rose from his seat and bowed to Illid. Illid returned a brief, polite nod.
“The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Viscountess Martel, and the Minister of Finance, Baron Kaelun, will assist Archduke Hellion.”
The white-haired viscountess and the baron with thick glasses stood and greeted Hellion. Hellion responded with a courteous bow of his own.
“Well then, the division of duties seems settled. I believe it is time to discuss the reporting structure.”
As the meeting neared its conclusion, Zar spoke in a rigid voice.
“While the Crown Prince’s duties will be divided, I propose that both Archdukes must first obtain approval from the Duchess of Wintera before reporting to His Majesty the Emperor.”
The moment Zar finished speaking, the vassals from both the South and North began murmuring all at once. But my brother silenced their chatter with an even louder voice.
“Both Archdukes are undoubtedly outstanding talents, yet the Crown Prince’s duties have been handled by the Duchess of Wintera for the past three years. Therefore, I believe it would be a valuable experience for the Archdukes to receive the Duchess’s approval before submitting matters for His Majesty’s final decision.”
The southern vassals all clamped their mouths shut, fidgeting uncomfortably. The northern vassals’ already fierce faces grew even darker. Even Aron Telia, who usually had the brightest disposition among them, was biting his lip with clear displeasure.
No matter how well I had performed the role of Crown Prince proxy, I did not carry the imperial family’s blood. And although I was effectively the Crown Princess, I had not yet entered into a marital relationship with the imperial family, so my status remained lower than that of the Archdukes.
For the two Archdukes to have to seek my approval and permission—it must have seemed utterly absurd to the vassals who served Illid and Hellion as their lords.
However, this was the imperial capital and the imperial palace. The true power here belonged neither to the Emperor nor the imperial family, but to the Regentera family.
“Lord Tecella, you look rather displeased. Do you have any objections?”
Zar deliberately singled out one of the southern vassals and prodded him. The young Lord Tecella swallowed nervously, then innocently opened his mouth to speak.
Illid raised his hand, signaling for silence. Tecella quickly shook his head, saying he had none.
“Then the South has no objections. Lord Telia of the North, what are your thoughts?”
“I…”
Lord Telia trailed off under Zar’s persistent gaze.
“I will follow Archduke Hellion’s wishes.”
“Ah, you may not be aware, but the Archdukes’ opinions are excluded from the vote. The central nobles will decide whether to approve or reject the proposal.”
The answer was already decided, so why ask? Lord Telia’s narrowed eyes seemed to ask exactly that. Yet neither Telia nor any of the southern or northern vassals could offer a single word of protest against Zar.
Duke Zar Regentera’s only strengths were his appearance and acting ability. Despite his simple-minded personality that resembled a neighborhood mutt, my brother possessed a rather cold and charismatic exterior.
Moreover, his face was the spitting image of our grandfather in his youth, so even the elderly ministers who remembered the old Duke were intimidated by him.
He had taken acting classes at the imperial academy, giving him flawless memorization skills and perfect voice control.
Back in his school days, when my brother kept failing every subject, our grandfather had tearfully given up on academics and made him study acting instead. The intention was for him to memorize the scripts the family prepared and at least perform well during imperial court meetings.
Fortunately, acting suited him, and now it was proving incredibly useful.
“Since an opinion has been raised, shall we decide by majority vote?”
Thanks to the stage my brother had set, I didn’t have to dirty my own hands. I leaned back deeply in my chair and simply watched as events unfolded exactly according to the script we had prepared.
“The head of the Regentera ducal family, Zar Wilhelm Regentera, votes in favor!”
“Proxy head of the Lilche marquisate, Yulian Leonhart Lilche, votes in favor.”
“Head of the Silanda comital family, Ludwi Elliot Silanda, votes in favor.”
Starting with those three families, the central nobles cast unanimous votes of approval.